


i thought you were weird but turns out you're just caught in a time loop

by Moolikacow



Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Non graphic self harm, Reader Insert, Reader has CTSD, Timeloops, mix between Undertale and Deltarune worlds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-08-20 22:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 18,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16564346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moolikacow/pseuds/Moolikacow
Summary: Reader just moved to town a month ago. You don't know anyone very well.That was a blatant lie. Reader has been caught in a time loop for the past three years. You keep living the same week over and over and over and over again.There's no hope. There's nothing you can do.Until you meet a short skeleton who understands your predicament.what the fuck





	1. something different

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhhhhhh I wrote a thing.  
> It's not a good thing  
> but it's a thing
> 
> Deltarune inspired this idea. 
> 
> yup

You wake up. 9:00 AM. Another Monday. The beginning of the week.  


You climb out of bed, sluggish, depressed.  


You dress yourself in comfortable clothing, nothing fancy, nothing flattering. You put on snow boots and a very thick coat.  


You walk outside. It’s snowing. It’s always snowing. You walk slowly, unworried, bored.  


You stop as a group of children, both monsters and humans, run passed you on the street, and you allow them to pass without incident. You watch them as they run to the other end of town. Going to the fair ~~again.~~  


You’ve gone to the fair so many times, you know what happens like the back of your hand. You decide to go somewhere different today. You continue walking down the street.  


You watch as at exactly 9:22 AM, the store owner steps out to sweep the snow from her porch. You look away, and know instinctively that at 9:24, three kids jump out and scare her. You’ve seen this a million times.  


You find yourself at the edge of town, trees growing into a full forest beyond. You’ve been in there a lot, but you decide to push yourself today. There’s gotta be something you haven’t seen or done yet.  


You glance around yourself, and then look at your watch. 9:30 exactly. Around this time, you know that the fair parade comes through, making their way to the fair with the mayor in tow. It’s a big deal for the townsfolk. They’ll be late though, only by a few minutes. You’ve checked it out before, someone gets their costume stuck in the toilet somehow. It’s a lot of drama and angst. It all ends up okay, though.  


You’ve grown bored with it by now, anyway.  


You don’t need to stick around to see them parade through the town, so you just duck under the town fence and head into the woods.  


A while passes, and you find a large stick that you knew was going to be on the ground. You swing it around, batting random trees and rocks with it. You’re bored.  


Monday goes by with no incident.

\--- 

You wake up. 10:03 AM. Tuesday. You put on the same big coat and snow boots. You go outside. It’s still snowing. It’s always snowing.  


Immediately as you leave your property, you call out without even looking. “Hi, Asgore.” Your neighbor had just stepped out of his house. You lift a hand in greeting as he looks surprised to see you.  


“Oh, howdy, Reader! What a coincidence!” He steps down from his porch to greet you.  


“Yes,” you agree with no amusement. “A coincidence.” You fake a smile as you wait for the conversation that you know is about to happen.  


“I just stepped out to check on my garden, you see,” Asgore explains to you what you already know. “I have to keep my flowers healthy in the winter-time, you see, so that they can regrow themselves come spring!”  


You nod, pretending to be interested. “It’s very nice that you care about your flowers so much, Asgore. But,” you glance up into the tree that stands above his garden. “You should keep an eye out on the snow in the branches. You wouldn’t want it to fall and hurt your garden.”  


Asgore follows your gaze and his mouth opens wide. “Oh my goodness, you’re entirely right! I will have to clear off the snow up in the branches. Thank you! You’re so observant!” He praises you and all you can think is _this has all happened so many times before._  


You carry on your way, greeting your neighbors, and Tuesday goes by with no incident.

\--- 

You wake up. 8:46 AM. Wednesday. Same big coat, same snow boots. You go outside. Guess what? It’s snowing.  


You’ve lived the same week over and over and over again, hundreds of times. Every Monday the week resets, and no one remembers anything.  


Except for you. You retain every memory of every relived week. You’ve grown accustomed by it. You’ve spent lots of time learning the ins and outs of this town, and how each day goes for each individual resident. You’ve even left town on a couple of occasions, just to experience something new for a change. It’s nice when you decide to do that.  


You have no idea why or how you got stuck in a groundhog day type situation, but here you are. You guess it doesn’t matter anymore.  


You know that Wednesday will be spent with kids out of school, (they’re always out of school, it's a holiday break.) and that one cat-monster who works at the burger joint getting arrested for smuggling burgers in his pants. Undyne’s always been a… strict officer.  


You question whether you’re going to warn the affectionately nicknamed Burgerpants or not. You shrug to yourself and begin walking in that direction. When you do warn him, he rolls you a special joint, and you usually just end up getting high with him. He’s a good kid. Wednesdays are usually spent in a blur.  


As you carry on your way, you shove your cold hands in your pocket. You look up into the sky and take a deep breath. You look at your watch, 9:14. Right now, Catty’s getting scared by a spider in her room, Papyrus is building a snowskeleton, and the mayor is asleep at her desk after working too late the night before. You’ve witnessed all those things before.  


As you get closer to the burger joint, mind set on just finding Burgerpants and getting high off your ass to deal with your stupid existence, you pass Papyrus’s house.  


As predicted, he’s outside playing in the snow.  


You wave at him and he waves back.  


Technically, you had only met him last week. The week _before_ time went all wibbly-wobbly. He doesn’t know you very well. You know him too well, seeing as you’ve had plenty of time to get to know him.  


You consider the fact that you haven’t even met his brother yet in this timeloop. It depends on your actions, of course. But you usually don’t really bother. Papyrus’s brother is pretty boring.  


Speaking of… Sans opens the door just then. He steps outside and begins talking to his brother. You continue on your walk, and in your head you’re counting down the seconds before--  


_Fwump!_ You don’t need to look back to know that a lump of snow from the roof had fallen on Sans’s head as he stepped off the porch. It happens every Wednesday at 9:17 AM.  


You don’t stop to think about it as you continue toward Burgerpants.

\--- 

You wake up. 9:01 AM. Thursday. Big coat, snow boots, still snowing, no surprise there. You wonder what you’ll do today. Thursdays are usually dull. The kids in town hold a music show, one of the humans pukes on stage. It’s not a very fun time for those involved, but sometimes it’s funny.  


You guess you have nothing better to do. Music show it is.  


But that’s not until 4 tonight.  


You decide to spend some time in the forest again. Nothing new or exciting happens.  


You watch the kids perform, it’s all the same, it’s all the same, _it’s all the same._  


You don’t feel anything when the kid predictably pukes from nerves.  


Thursday passes without incident, with no involvement from you.

\--- 

You wake up. 8:59 AM. Friday. You hate yourself. Big coat. Snow boots. You go to the bar and get drunk the whole day. You’re hungover by 3, but decide to keep drinking. Nothing matters. Nothing matters. _Nothing matters._  


Friday passes with no involvement from you. No incidents other than your alcoholism.

\--- 

You wake up. 7:39 AM. You throw up a lot. You’re hungover. You fall back asleep.  


You wake up again. 12:34 PM. Saturday. Goddamn.  


You stay inside the whole day, hurting yourself.  


Saturday passes in a painful blur.

\--- 

You wake up at 7:00 AM on Sunday, prepared to go to church after your self-abuse yesterday and the day before. It makes you feel better sometimes. You’ve heard this sermon a million times, and you like to pretend that you relate to it. In the long run it doesn’t help, but it’s the last day before the week restarts. You don’t know what you’re doing here.  


You decide to go with your neighbor Asgore and his kids and ex-wife. You decide on a whim to go help with the kids in Sunday School, instead of sit in with the adults. You don’t know why, but the children make you feel better than any old preacher can.  


You’re helping the Sunday School teacher (a pretty mouse-girl) round up the kids when the door opens.  


You don’t look because you know who it is. It’s the skeleton Papyrus and his brother Sans. Papyrus always comes to Sunday School, he never listens to the sermon inside. Sans likes to hang out, you don’t think he’s religious at all.  


You know he likes to keep an eye on his brother.  


You welcome Papyrus to the class and sit in the corner to wait to be called by the teacher to help with something. You know at some point she’ll have you hand out papers for the kids to write down Biblical verses on. Later the whole class will go outside for a game.  


The class passes with no incident. You and Sans sit in the corners and don’t do anything. You watch the kids and want to cry.  


It’s all the same, every week.  


Eventually you help the teacher bring all the kids outside, and you help keep them all in order. You don’t feel up to participating in the game, so you sit this one out and decide to stand next to Sans. He’s quiet, he probably won’t bother you.  


You’re both standing under a tree heavy with snow. You know that at some point today the snow breaks the branch and falls on top of Sans. Just like the snow on his porch every Wednesday. Poor guy, he’s just got no luck.  


You recall that Sans likes to go to Grillby’s after church and drink (defeating the purpose of you even going to church in the first place), so you decide to ask if you can join him.  


“Yo, Sans,” you start, leaning in so you can speak quietly to him. “You wanna go to Grillby’s after this?”  


You wait for his answer as he slowly, _slowly,_ turns to look at you. You’re a little off-put.  


“i don’t think we’ve met before,” he says.  


Shit.  


You haven’t even met Sans in this timeloop. Awkward. No wonder he looked at you so weirdly. Oh well, time to go. It’s the last day before everything resets, so it doesn’t matter.  


“Oh. Oh yeah,” you say. “Welp. Nevermind, I guess.” You turn to leave, when you remember something.  


“Oh,” you turn back around. He’s still staring at you. You wait 4 seconds, and then reach out and shove him back.  


He reacts instantly, stepping backwards and shouting out “what the f-”  


You see a flash of blue in his eye for a split second before the snow from above you falls directly in between the two of you.  


Sans stands there, looking down at the snow blankly.  


You wait. You’ve never done this before.  


Sans looks up at you. “how long have we been stuck for you to memorize every snowfall?”  


You stare at him, mouth open.  


He knows?  


He.  


Can’t.  


Know.  


No one knows.  


“You-” you mutter incoherently at the skeleton for a moment. You finally shake your head and speak clearly. “Can you remember everything too?”  


Sans is still just staring at you with a blank expression.  


“no.”  


You don’t know what to do. No one has ever been aware of what’s going on. You still aren’t even sure if he _is_ aware. He’s kind of a weird guy. You’ve never really gotten to know him super well.  


You decide, fuck it! It’s the last day.  


“The week restarts every Monday at six AM. No one remembers anything.”  


Sans blinks slowly. “well, fuck.”  


“Yeah.”  


"i guess we should go to Grillby’s then.”  


“Yeah.”  


You both stand there in silence for a moment. Sans glances around awkwardly.  


“well, i’ll see you later then.” He turns and walks away.  


You have no idea what to think. How the hell could Sans know anything about timeloops? He’s never struck you as a smart guy, or even really that interesting at all. Maybe he’s still just messing with you.  


In the few times you have hung around him, he’s never mentioned anything about time shenanigans. He’s never done _anything,_ really.  


Well. You guess you know what you’re doing today. Or, rather, you _don’t_ know what you’re doing today.  


Your heart beats fast and your hands feel numb. It could be the cold, but you think it’s the excitement, the fear that comes with not knowing what’s about to happen.


	2. not the beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You talk to Sans in a way you've never talked to Sans before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOUR COMMENTS MAKE ME HAPPY THANK YOU GUYS I WASN'T EXPECTING PEOPLE TO LIKE THE FIRST CHAPTER SO MUCH

You walk into Grillby’s. You notice the same monsters, the same humans, sitting in exactly the same seats as always.  


You walk up to the bar and take a hesitant seat. You hear the door open and you actually flinch in surprise.  


You look behind you and see Sans heading in your direction.  


It’s off-kilter. It’s off-beat. Wrongly balanced.  


You don’t know what’s about to happen.  


Sans takes his seat beside you and orders his usual. He leans his elbows on the counter and turns to stare at you.  


You stare back because you don’t know what else to do.  


You’re waiting for Sans to do something, because you feel as though you have no control right now.  


He finally speaks. “so... uh,” he clears his non-existent throat. You know that’s something he does to make other people more comfortable. “you’re caught in a time loop,” he says.  


You nod, and almost immediately explode into explanations. “It’s the same week, over and over and over again,” you tell him. “It started so long ago, I don’t- I don’t even know if I could tell you how long this has been going on. I have no way to keep track, but it’s been so long that I can’t remember.”  


You’re so excited to be telling someone all this, that you don’t give him any space to interrupt. It doesn’t look like he wants to, anyway.  


“I’ve been doing different things, trying new stuff out, but nothing works. It all resets no matter what I do. I’ve even gone online, asked forums if they knew of anything like this and I only receive trolls and people telling me it’s mental issues.”  


Suddenly your mind catches on something. “How do you know anything about this? How do you believe me?” you ask.  


Sans had been staring at you, patiently waiting for you to finish. At your question, he nods slowly and takes a sip of his drink. “well,” he starts. “i’m a scientist. i study stuff like this.”  


You stare at him in disbelief. “What?! After all this time you never mentioned anything about science. I never got the impression that you were-”  


“well buddy, i only just met you today. i don’t know that after ‘all this time’ is long enough for us to really get to know each other.”  


You scoff. “I’ve met you a thousand times before. You’ve always been boring and- and monotonous!”  


Sans blinks at you. “me? boring?” He grins sadly and looks away. “not sure why you’d get that impression.”  


It’s quiet for a second when you don’t reply to him. He speaks again anyway.  


“alright, look. i have a lab at home, i’m sure i got somethin’ in there to help us figure out why time is doin’ this. there has to be a cause. time doesn’t just choose to go all wacky like this on its own.”  


You nod your head. “Okay,” you say. “I’m gonna have to trust you, I guess. You’re kind of my only hope.”  


Sans still isn’t looking at you as he takes another drink. “we’re gonna have to trust each other, kid.”  


“So what do we do first?” You ask.  


Sans finishes his drink and shakes his head at you. “right now, nothing. it’s the last day of the loop, yeah? so there’s not much we can get done today. listen,” he puts his hand on your shoulder and you look at him in surprise. “tomorrow, when everything resets, come find me first. just tell me that i told you to tell me to let you into the lab. i’ll trust you if you know about the lab. then you’ll just have to retell me everything that you just did, and then we can get started.” He winks at you.  


You nod your head silently, unable to think of anything to say. Will this really work? It’s worth a shot, if anything.  


“Thanks, Sans,” you say. “For giving me a little hope, at least.”  


“no problem, buddy. sorry i haven’t been helpful before now.” He glances up at you with a serious expression. “i haven’t really been feeling myself lately, so i guess that makes sense you wouldn’t put much effort into me.”  


You don’t reply. You don’t have anything to say.  


“guess i can’t really try harder to be my regular self,” he continues, looking out the bar window to the falling snow outside. “hope that’s _snow_ problem.”  


He winks at you again.  


You sit there for a second before you realize that he’s waiting for a response. “Oh,” you say. “It’s a snow pun.”  


“you were supposed to laugh,” he tells you.  


“Sorry, I’ll laugh next time.”  


Sans smiles (sadly, again) and shakes his head. “it’s not gonna be very fun if you’ve heard all my jokes before.”  


“What jokes? You mean that single pun you just made? I’ve only ever heard you make a few.”  


Sans’s shoulders sink. “right... like i said, i’m not quite feeling myself lately. i must have… not been joking as much, huh?”  


“I… guess? Is that something you normally do?”  


Sans looks at you with a forlorn expression. “oh my god, the person caught in the time loop doesn’t even know that i’m the pun guy. i’ve really messed up big time.”  


You still just stare at him.  


“hey don’t look at me like that. being caught in a time loop is _pun_ ishment enough.”  


Your mouth opens wide.  


Sans grins. “you know, i never thanked you for pushing me out of the way of that snow earlier. thanks,” he says. “i might have had a _meltdown.”_  


You resist reacting at all.  


“well, at least i would have been one _cool_ guy.”  


You stare at him, giving an unamused expression.  


“hey now, don’t go giving me the _cold shoulder,_ buddy.”  


You stand up and turn to walk away.  


Sans calls out to you, “it was _ice_ to meet you today!”  


You keep walking until you’re practically out the door. You turn around and lock eyes with the skeleton. “I’ll see you tomorrow, buddy.”

That seems to deflate him a bit, but you don’t feel bad. You turn to leave. 

You feel sick to your stomach, but you don’t exactly know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr @moolikacow


	3. it's not really the start yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the start of some new weeks except different

You wake up. 9:00 AM. Monday. The beginning of the week.

The memory of your conversation with Sans is still fresh in your mind, and you practically throw yourself out of bed. You quickly dress yourself, (thick coat, snow boots, the usual) and run out the door, slamming it shut. 

You try to act normal as you walk through the town, but even as you look around, (everything’s the same, it’s always the same) you still feel on edge. 

You’re about to do something new. 

You reach the skeleton brothers’ house and have a moment of ~~panic, panic, panic,~~ hesitation before stepping up to the front door. 

You knock. 

You hear a loud voice boom out, “Coming!” It’s Papyrus. 

The door swings open, and you imagine you have a nervous expression on your face. 

“Oh, hello, Reader! It’s so nice to have you visit!” Papyrus immediately reaches out to pull you into a hug. You go in easily, wrapping your arms around him. 

“Hi, Pap. Uh, is your brother around? You know, the one I haven’t… met… yet?” You shuffle your feet. 

Papyrus looks surprised. “Oh, Sans?” You notice the minute glance he gives into the house, behind the door where you can’t see. Sans must be in there. Papyrus continues, “He’s here, yes, but you probably don’t want to visit with him. Not yet. Not… here.” 

Before you can respond, Papyrus tries to step outside with you, trying to close the door behind him. 

“Wait, Pap-” you raise your hands. 

“Why don’t we go outside and play in the fresh snow? Look! It’s snowing right now! Wowie!” he shuffles you outside. 

“Papyrus, I’m sorry, but this is important. I need to talk to Sans, now.” 

Papyrus looks at you, surprised. “Right now…?” he says uncharacteristically quiet. 

You nod firmly. “Yes,” you tell him. 

Papyrus glances from the door back to you a couple of times. “Well, alright. I suppose, I’ll just, go, get, him. ...Give me one moment!” and with that he rushes inside and slams the door. 

You stare with your mouth open. What. Was. That? Papyrus has never acted so weirdly before. 

You briefly wonder if this was a bad idea. 

Then the door opens again and it’s Sans. 

He looks normal. But supposedly you don’t know what normal is for Sans. 

You realize that neither of you have said anything and he’s just staring at you. “Oh, uh, hi!” you say. You reach out your hand. “I’m Reader. You… haven’t met me yet.” 

He looks at your hand and then shakes it. A farting sound emits from your grasping hands. You may have never done _this_ before, but you expected the whoopie cushion. He never fails to do it when you meet him. 

You smile and he smiles right back at you. 

“hi, i’m sans. sans the skeleton.” 

“I know,” you tell him. 

“so, what did you want to talk to me about?” he asks. He seems really uninterested in you right now. 

“Um. Well, you told me to tell you to let me into the lab.” 

His expression doesn’t change. 

He just. Stares at you. 

You’re beginning to feel awkward. 

You just stare back, there’s nothing else for you to do. You said what he told you to say. 

“that’s weird,” he finally speaks. “that doesn’t sound like something i would tell someone to say.” 

What?! 

Your expression must convey what you’re thinking, because his grin gets bigger. 

“sorry, you must have the wrong guy.” 

And he. 

Turns. 

To walk away. 

You ~~panic~~ try to stop him. You reach out and grab his jacket. “Wait what the fuck?! You told me to come back here and go with you to your lab! You said you could help me! You fucking made snow puns!” 

He turns around and looks at your hand that’s grabbing his sleeve. “well. that sure does sound like me. the pun part, nothing really else. i don’t know what you’re talking about, darlin’. sorry.” 

“SANS, SO HELP ME I WILL DRAG YOU DOWN TO HELL. DON’T YOU PLAY ME LIKE THIS--” 

You see a soft flash of blue, but it’s gone before you can really think about it. Sans finally stops trying to leave you. 

“fine. let's say that i do believe you. how am i supposed to know that this is real? you know, i’ve got a system for this kind of thing. you come back once, mention something about time shenanigans and that’s phase one.” 

You stare at him, dumbfounded. “Phase… one?” you repeat. 

He nods. “mhm. if you come back next time and tell me that you need into the lab, _and_ that you’re an idiot poop baby, then i’ll believe you.” 

“What.” 

“yup. that’s what it’ll take.” 

“No. Just let me into the lab.” 

“no can do, buddy-o. you gotta come back and say those words.” 

“I’m not saying that.” 

“then i guess you’re not getting into my lab.” 

“Sans, this is important.” 

“how do i know that? i’ve never met you.” 

You’re glaring at him with what feels like the fury of a thousand ancient gods. This cannot be happening. 

“well. see you next time.” 

He turns and walks back into his house. The door closes and you stand there for an unbelievably long amount of time. 

You make no conscious decision, but as you wait for the week to restart, you hurt yourself a lot more than usual. You blame yourself. 

\--- 

You wake up. 9:00 AM. Monday. You rush out of bed again. 

You’ve left your stunned shock at being played like this by Sans behind, and you’re prepared to deal with him. 

You go to his house. 

You deal with Papyrus. 

Sans finally comes out to talk. 

You’re so mad that you don’t shake his hand when he offers. “I need into the lab and I’m an idiot poop baby.” You stare into his eyes as you say _the words._

He stares right back at you, that stone-cold skeletal smile on his face. 

You’re _so mad._

“well, i wouldn’t let a stranger into my lab, you know, if i had one,” he says. “let's start from the beginning. i’m sans, sans the skeleton. and you are..?” 

He’s still holding out his hand. 

You still don’t take it. “I know you have a whoopie cushion, you dumbass. You promised you’d help me and I came back and said those stupid words of yours. Now let me in, or so help me-” 

“threats ain’t gonna get you no where, darlin’,” he says. You stare in shock as his eyes turn dark. “with the way you’re acting, i’m having a hard time believing you’re safe to let in.” 

You let out an indignant sound and clench your fists. 

Sans continues, his eyes brightening up again. “maybe next time, on top of saying you need in the lab, and that you’re an idiot poop baby, you could say something like, ‘you’re a sexy god among skeletons, sans.’” 

“I am _not-”_

“you’re gonna have to if you want into my probably fake lab.” 

“I absolutely hate you.” 

“i don’t know you well enough to form an opinion.” He’s grinning at you. 

You let out an angry shout and turn to leave. You’re coming back next week whether you like it or not. 

You spend this week normally. You go outside and interact with people in a distracted daze. You notice Sans watching you from afar, sometimes, and you wonder what he’s thinking. 

You go to bed Sunday night, determined to get the best of Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr @moolikacow


	4. finally we're starting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get to see Sans's (probably fake) lab

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments are genuinely making me so happy. Thank you all so much for commenting such nice things! My face hurts from smiling.

You wake up. 9:00 AM. Monday. You’re finally going to get into the lab. 

You hope. 

You go to the skeletons’ house. You talk with Papyrus. You get him to let you talk to Sans. 

You don’t shake his hand, instead you say, “My name is Reader, I need into the lab, I’m an idiot poop baby, and you’re a sexy god among skeletons, Sans.” 

As predicted, he stares at you. 

You stare back. 

“you didn’t need to add the sexy part,” he says with a grin. 

He. Never fails. To dumbfound you. ~~some part of you likes it~~

”God damn you,” is all you can think of to say. 

”well, come on in, then,” he says, and heads back indoors. 

You follow, and glance around. You’ve been in their house tons of times, but you’ve never seen a lab before. You follow Sans as he calls out to Papyrus in the kitchen.

”me and them are going to hang out in my room for a bit, okay pap?” 

Papyrus sticks his head out of the kitchen to look at the two of you. “Okay, Sans! It’s nice to see you have a friend over!” He’s grinning. “Play nice with them!” 

”Yeah, play nice, Sans,” you murmur, sending a sneer his way. 

He doesn’t respond, instead leading you in the direction of his bedroom. You’ve been in there a couple of times, it’s just a normal, messy room. 

You still have no idea how he could be hiding a lab in here. 

Maybe he’s just lying about the lab and he’s just going to take to the back and kill you. 

You guess you’d still be back on Monday, so it doesn’t matter. 

~~You’ve died only once before in a loop and it was the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to you~~

As you enter Sans’s room, you heft a sigh. “Alright, so where’s the lab, then,” you speak flatly. 

Sans gives an almost silent chuckle. “over here.” He starts mumbling about _‘secret doors ‘n shit.’_

He pushes some junk out of the way and places his palm on a (you think) specific point on the wall. It glows in the shape of his skeletal hand and the wall sinks in and then raises upwards, opening into a dark room. 

“Whoa,” you say, mouth hanging wide. 

Sans looks smug. “it’s obvious it’s your first time here,” he says. 

You just nod silently and follow him into the darkness. 

Dim lights turn on automatically as you walk in, and, well, 

it’s a lab. 

Strange machines with dials and buttons and glowing screens line the walls. There’s shelves full of books and binders, and papers are strewn all over the place. 

You’re taking your time looking at everything, and when you finally notice that he’s watching you, he thrusts a paper into your hand. 

You look at it. 

It’s just. 

A piece of paper with three small lines drawn on it. There’s nothing else on it. 

”Uh,” you say. You look at him questioningly. 

He reaches out and taps the paper with his finger. “that’s how many times the week has reset since i’ve found out about it,” he says. 

Your mind is absolutely blown. “How- _how?”_

Sans takes a deep breath. “i’ve shielded my lab from any time divergences. anything i put in here stays in here, unchanged from the timeline it came from.” 

Your mouth is hanging open again, and this time when Sans reaches out, it’s to tap underneath your chin to close it. He looks at you with an amused expression. 

”Oh my god, sorry, I- sorry, geez.” You shake your head. “So you started keeping track as soon as I told you three weeks ago?” 

Sans shrugs. “must’ve. i left a lot of notes for myself, actually…” he turns and grabs some papers from one of the tables. He speaks as he sifts through them. “i really musta thought you were untrustworthy at one point, i have a note here that says you’re ‘aggressive’ and to not let you in until further notice.” He turns to grin lazily at you. 

You narrow your eyes at him. “Not funny,” you say. “I was desperate and you made me run around in circles to get help.” 

”you mean you went in loops?" 

It takes you a moment before you realize it’s a joke. “Ugh,” you groan. You start ruffling through some papers, too. You speak to him over your shoulder. “So what did your notes say for you to let me in?” 

”says here you weren’t violent toward anyone in town and you’re nice to papyrus. you were really sincere when you first talked to me.” 

You hum in response, still looking at the notes. Most of them you don’t understand. 

“hey,” Sans calls out. 

“Yeah?” 

“it says here you’ve been stuck for three years?” 

You turn to look at him. “What? How could you know that? I don’t even know how long it’s been.” 

Sans shrugs. “gimme a sec.” He turns to one of his machines and pushes a few buttons to turn it on. He’s looking at the screen intently. 

You wait patiently for him to finish whatever he’s doing. 

”ah,” he finally says. “looks like time has been spiraling, revolving around a specific event.” 

“What event?” you ask. 

“i ‘unno.” 

Your frustration grows at that. “Do we need to find out?” 

Sans just shrugs. He’s still looking at the machine. 

You get even more frustrated. “Well? Aren’t you the scientist?? Shouldn’t you be figuring this out?” 

Sans finally turns to look at you. “i only just found out one second ago. i _will_ find out. calm down.” 

“I am calm,” you mutter under your breath. 

He side-eyes you for a moment before looking back to what he’s doing. “it says here it started three years and fourteen days ago.” 

”Aw,” you tilt your head. “I missed my anniversary.” 

Sans gives an amused glance in your direction. “congratulations,” he says. 

”Thanks.” You stick your tongue out at him. 

Sans continues dicking around with the machine, and begins to take more notes. He’s not paying you any mind right now, so you decide to continue to look around.

You don’t really understand anything that’s in here, so you eventually make your way over to an old looking couch that’s placed against one wall. You flop down and look back at Sans. 

He’s still busy. He’s writing a lot of stuff down. You wonder what it is. 

Finally he turns back to you. He carries his notebook with him as he walks over to you. “alright,” he says. “i’m gonna have to ask you a lot of questions.” 

You nod. “Okay, sounds reasonable.” 

He pulls up a stool from one of the desks and sits down right in front of you. He holds up his pencil. “when does the loop start and end?” 

You answer immediately. “It restarts every week on Monday at six am.” 

He nods and writes that down. “does time go normally up until that time? there’s no overlapping or missing time?” 

You shake your head. “No, time is normal throughout Sunday and early Monday morning until six. Then I always find myself back in my bed.” 

He writes it down again. “so your body resets to where you were, but your memories stay?” 

You nod. “Yeah.”

For some reason his writing is making you nervous. You don’t know why. You know he’s only writing it down so he won’t have to ask you again. He’ll have his notes forever. 

Maybe that’s why you feel queasy. All this time you could have been saving things in this timesafe, but you didn’t even know it existed. 

“it says in a note i wrote earlier that you’ve memorized a lot of the goings on in town. did you put effort into that, or did it just form naturally with how long you’ve been looping?” 

You blink in confusion. “Why does this matter?” 

”because i’m curious.” 

...You can’t really argue with that. 

”Once I realized what was going on, I started putting effort into it, yeah. Mostly just so I could try different things and see what changed.” 

He hums in response and writes that down.

”alright,” he looks up at you. “what were you doing before the looping started?” 

You throw your head back and blow a raspberry with your mouth. “Oh god you expect me to remember that? Holy shit, I dunno, Sans, what were you doing three years ago?!” 

He just stares at you. 

You stare back. “I’m serious.” 

He sighs. “fine,” he says and writes something down. 

You hesitantly sit up a little straighter. “Hey, uh, Sans?” 

”what’s up, buddy?” he doesn’t even look up from his notebook. 

”What’s the plan for when the week restarts again?” 

He looks up again. You feel more comfortable when he’s looking at you. “huh, yeah. i guess instead of using all those codes i had you use before, just say ‘gaster approved.’” 

”Okay… Gaster approved? What does that mean?” 

”it means i can trust you without putting you through any more tests.” 

He doesn’t grace you with any more of an explanation, and just goes back to writing in his notebook. 

You sit there awkwardly for a moment, not wanting to interrupt him.

”alright, i’m gonna put you through some more tests now.” 

”Wait what? You just said-” 

He stands up from his place on the stool in front of you. “i want to get a record of your physical appearance and health, it helps if i have all the information at hand.” 

You slowly stand up as well. “Why?” you ask. 

He begins digging around in a desk drawer. “because i’m a scientist.” 

He sure doesn’t like giving you detailed answers. You wonder how long it’ll be before you grow tired of working with him. 

You agree to get a physical from him, allowing him to take your measurements and vitals. You think it’s kind of amazing that he has all the equipment he needs in here. 

You spend hours together in his lab, asking and answering basic questions and getting all necessities out of the way. He says he wants to get as much information down as possible at first, so you won’t have to sit through this later. 

Eventually he tells you that you can go. He’s got a lot on his mind, you can tell, and he keeps ignoring you to write in his books and fiddle with his machines. You guess if he doesn’t need you anymore, then, sure, fine, you’ll go home. 

It’s not like this is the most amazing thing that has happened to you in three years. 

You don’t know why, but you’re a little upset when you leave his house. You walk back in the snow, and when you return home, 

you 

fall to your knees 

and 

cry. 

You don’t remember ever feeling anything new, or different, in… in years, you guess. 

After so long, change scares you. Everything is unexpected. You don’t know what’s going to happen and you _always_ know what’s going to happen. 

You hurt yourself and cry until it’s time to go to bed, and you crawl under your covers wishing that you could go back to not worrying about the future, and then hating yourself for wishing that.

Everything is different and yet nothing's changed.


	5. tuesday blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uh it's tuesday and sans is there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thank you for your comments. Reading them is what makes me want to keep writing.

You wake up early. 7:20. Tuesday. You start to get out of bed when you realize that there’s no reason to. 

If Sans wants to talk to you, he can come to you. You already did your part. 

You decide you’ll sleep in. 

You fall back asleep until about 11. 

You wake up again, and let yourself ooze out of bed, groaning all the while as you take your covers with you. You flop onto the floor and wince in pain. 

You wonder when Sans will need to see you again. He’s gotta need you for… something, right? 

You realize that you had thought you’d be in this together but he might not even need you. You don’t know anything about time science. You don’t know how those machines work. You can’t help him in any way- 

_Ding dong!_

Your heart jumps into your throat and you sit up immediately. Your breath is heavy and your eyes wide. 

Wow... 

You haven’t heard your doorbell ring in a… very long time. 

You chuckle breathlessly to yourself. You stand up and detangle yourself from your blanket. It’s just Sans, you tell yourself. You’re being a silly baby. 

You pull on your huge jacket over your pajamas without getting dressed completely. You head for your front door. 

You open the door to see Sans there, big surprise. He looks at your pajamas and thick coat and blinks at you. 

”knock knock,” he says. 

You’re caught off guard. “Uh, who’s there?” 

”bed.” 

”...bed who?” 

”bed you won’t believe what i found.” 

He winks at you and you can’t do anything but stare at him. 

He waits for a response that you don’t give him. 

”come on you can’t have heard that one before. it was specific to our circumstances.” 

You shake your head. “No, I haven’t heard it before. I just didn’t think it was funny.” 

He seems offended, but he shakes it off. “so you gonna let me in or what?” 

”Uh, yeah, here,” you step aside, allowing him passage into your home. 

He steps inside and you close the door. “What did you find?” You ask. 

Sans pulls out a notebook from inside his jacket and turns to look at you. “well i didn’t find out why the loop is happening,” he says. 

”Oh.” 

”yeah, but i do have a question for you. before i tell you what i found.” 

”Okay, shoot.” You cross your arms, looking at him. 

His eyes suddenly go dark as he stares into you. “have you ever killed anyone?” 

Your face goes pale. How could he know? ~~You were just messing around. The fire got out of hand.~~ It’s not your fault. _It’s not your fault._

He’s staring at you. You haven’t answered yet. Come on, there’s nothing to lose here. 

~~you’re afraid there’s everything to lose here~~

”N-no,” he doesn’t let you get any further. 

His eyes remain dark. “i knew it.” 

”No!” You raise your hands in a defensive gesture. “It was an accident-” 

His demeanor changes and he steps back. His eyes are still dark as he stares at you. 

”I didn’t mean for it to happen, it was just one time, I swear!” You’re trying not to shout. “I never tried it again, I- I know the loop restarts but I never fucking forgave myself for that instance-” 

Sans’s eyes light up again and he steps forward, putting his hands out but not touching you. “whoa, whoa, there buddy, i’m sorry, geez, stop,” his teeth are clenched. “i meant like, you know, murder or something, not- geez, i’m sorry, kid.” 

His hands finally reach your shoulders and you can’t stop yourself from telling him. “It was Asgore’s kid, you know,” your voice hitches. “The oldest one.” 

Sans’s features are tense and his eyes are tracing your face. “stop,” he tells you. 

You do stop, but your shoulders are shaking.

Sans shakes his head and lets go of you. “okay, i believe you’re not dangerous,” he says. “you’re not malevolent, you don’t want to hurt anybody.” 

You flounder a bit. “No, no of course not,” you shake your head. “Why would you think that-” 

”i’m just making sure.” He sounds defensive. 

You stare at him, mouth open. “You thought I was some kind of psycho?!” 

”well i don’t know what being stuck in a time loop does to a person’s psyche,” he murmurs apologetically. “i was just checking.”

You frown at him for a while before shaking your head and turning toward the kitchen. You’re going to make some tea. 

Actually, you don’t think you have any tea. 

You’re going to make hot water and pretend it’s calming tea. 

Or maybe just pour it on the skeleton. 

Sans follows you hesitantly, and watches as you grab your kettle and start filling it with water. 

”...i did come up with an idea, though.” 

You’re focused on your kettle. “Oh yeah?” 

”i mean, i’ll continue researching this week, but what if on monday when the loop restarts, you stay in my lab?” 

You lift your head and pause for a moment. “Like spend the night in the lab to see if I stay unchanged like all the other things in there?” you ask. 

Sans nods behind you. “or if there’s any change in time if you’re not in it.”

”Okay,” you agree. “That sounds good. Will you stay in there too?” 

”nah, best if we try just you at first. i want to document as much as i can about you.” 

You glance at him with an eyebrow raised. 

”i mean. about your case. i want to document your case. not like, just you.” 

You look back at your kettle that you placed on your stovetop. You didn’t even turn the stove on. You don’t even know why you decided to make hot water in the first place. You turn around instead. 

”Have you figured out what event this week’s looping around?” you ask. 

Sans seems relieved to change the subject. “no,” he answers with a shake of his head. “i’ve been looking, but nothing is sticking out. i also don’t know why you in particular seem to be the only person who remembers any of it.” 

You sigh. You figured as much. “I guess we’ve got nothing but time,” you shrug. 

Sans looks at you for a moment. “hey,” he says. 

He waits for you to look at him. 

”i’m gonna find out a way to help you, alright?” 

... 

You nod. “Okay.” 

You’re not sure you believe him, but. 

You believe that he’s serious about trying.


	6. do it for the interdimensional box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader pulls a prank

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love you guys <3 <3 <3

You wake up. 8:30 AM. Wednesday.

You’re going to try something today. 

You smile at the thought. 

You climb out of bed and get dressed. You take your time, there’s no need to rush. 

You check the time before you leave your house. 9:02. 

Perfect. You exit your house and walk in the direction of Sans’s house. You wonder if this’ll work. 

You pull out your phone and prepare yourself by pulling up the video app. You try to contain your smile. 

You need to do yourself a favour and memorize Sans’s number. You’ll ask him for it later. 

You get to the skeleton’s house, and you see Papyrus outside, building a snowskeleton. You smile and wave. 

“Hi, Papyrus!” 

He looks up and grins at you. “Hello, Reader! How are you this marvelous day?” 

You walk over to him. “I’m doing fantastic. I like your snowskeleton!” 

Papyrus’s grin gets even wider (if that’s possible) and he looks down at his creation. “It is pretty great, isn’t it?” he agrees. “I’m so glad you knew it was a snow _skeleton,_ most people just say it looks like a deranged snow _man.”_

You nod your head. “No, it’s definitely a snowskeleton.” 

He pats some more snow onto his ~~deranged snowman~~ snowskeleton and you tenderly teeter on the balls of your feet. 

“Is Sans at home?” you ask. 

Papyrus speaks while he continues building. “Yes, I believe he is inside. Would you like me to call him for you?” he looks up, eyes gleaming. 

“Yes please!” you smile as innocently as you can and try to subtly check the time on your phone. 9:15. 

Ooooh, Sans better hurry. You want this to work. 

Papyrus texts Sans on his phone (you really must get his number) and in a few seconds- 

Sans opens the door. 

You glance at the time. 9:16. 

You start the video on your phone. 

Sans looks laid back and lazy as usual, and he grins at you from the doorframe. “sup.” he says. 

“Sans! Come here, I have something I need to show you.” 

“why can’t you come to me to show me?” 

You groan. “Because, Sans, don’t be a lazy butt.” 

Papyrus joins in at this moment. “Yes, Sans, go to your friend! You must show them you care by putting effort into being interested in what they have to show you!” 

Sans sighs and steps down from the porch at 9:17. 

_Just in time._

The ever-precarious pile of snow on the rooftop releases its weight onto Sans’s head with a familiar, yet _oh so satisfying_ sound. 

You burst into laughter, the hardest you have in a long while. Papyrus sees you laughing, and joins in as well. 

Sans sighs and doesn’t even brush himself off. He just lets the snow cover him. He gives you _a look,_ and shakes his head. 

“really?” he asks. 

You just keep laughing. You’re so glad you got it on video. 

“Gaster approved,” you say with a smirk, and end the video. 

Sans is unamused, you can tell, but you can’t wipe the grin from your face. You head over to him, and dust the snow off of the top of his head. 

“Can I save this in the lab?” you ask him under your breath so Papyrus can’t hear. Sans scoffs. 

“like hell,” he murmurs. 

“Oh, Reader!” Papyrus hurries up to you both. “That was such perfect timing! What a coincidence that you had been recording it on your phone as well!” 

You smile and wink at him. “I just got lucky I guess,” you say. 

“You will have to send it to all of our friends! I’m sure they would all love to see Sans get plastered by snow!” 

You laugh. “Of course! I’ll send it to everyone in town.” You smirk and glance at Sans. 

He has that fake smile on. 

Papyrus taps your shoulder. "But what is it that you had wanted to show Sans?" he asks. 

"Oh, uh, I forget," you say, shrugging. "I'll probably remember later, after I upload the video." 

Papyrus claps his hands and Sans grinds his teeth. 

He takes you by the shoulder and starts to lead you inside. “c’mon, reader, i’m getting chilled to the bone here.” 

You dutifully follow Sans where he leads you, wishing Papyrus fun in the snow as you disappear inside. 

Sans is muttering to himself. 

“Sorry,” you give a short chuckle. “It was really funny though.” 

“you knew that was gonna happen, huh?” he asks you. 

“Of course,” you reply. 

“hm.” he says. He’s leading you to his room. His lab, probably. 

Perfect! That’s where you wanted to go. 

“I want to save the video in the lab, so I can keep it forever.” You smile at him. He won’t look at you so he doesn’t see it, though. 

“we can’t just go around saving any old thing” he tells you as he opens the lab door. “my lab is for sophisticated science stuff only.” 

You deflate at that. “But,” you start to speak. 

“you’re supposed to be taking this seriously,” he finally turns to look at you, now that you’re inside the lab. 

“I am,” you tell him. 

“coulda fooled me,” he scowls at you. 

“I’m sorry.” You look down at your hands. You open your phone and pull up the video. Looking at it doesn’t make you smile anymore. “It was just a joke…” 

He’s looking at you and you sense his discomfort. 

“I wanted to save it.” You say. 

“why?” 

You shrug. “I just thought, you know… with the lab, I could finally have something from a reset that wouldn’t get deleted.” 

Sans sighs. 

“I’ve never had anything to remember, you know, _anything_ by.” You shrug and take in a deep breath. “It’s okay. I’ll delete it.” 

“reader, stop,” Sans puts up a hand. 

You look at him, hopeful. Sans digs around in a desk drawer and pulls out a thumb drive. 

“you can keep whatever you want on this. maybe,” he sighs again and runs his hand over his face. “we can get you a little box to keep in here. just personal stuff. whatever you don’t want changed or disappearing.” 

Your smile returns. “Really?” you ask. 

Sans gives yet another sigh. “yeah,” he agrees. 

You can’t help yourself. You reach out and hug him. “Thank you Sans,” you say into the side of his head. 

He seems surprised at first, but eventually his hands rest themselves on your back. “don’t worry about it, kid,” he says and awkwardly pats you. 

You pull back, still grinning. “By the way, I need to get your phone number. So it’ll be easier to get you to come outside at opportune moments.” You wink. 

Sans smiles awkwardly. “uh, sure. but from now on how about we keep the whole _knowing what’s about to happen_ thing to keeping me out of trouble?” 

You laugh. “Sure thing, buddy.” 

“but, won’t your phone just reset to its previous state each week?” 

You nod. “Yeah, but don’t worry. I can just memorize your number.” You nudge him and smirk. “I have a good memory.” 

\--- 

You spend the rest of Wednesday with Sans. 

It’s like having a real friend. 

It’s… 

Amazing. 

Having someone who understands your predicament. You can talk to him normally and you know that even if he’ll forget you in a few days, there will at least be a little effort there to remember.


	7. loop number 159

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The experimentation begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your lovely comments. Today's a short chapter, but the next few chapters will be extremely revealing soooooo

The rest of the week goes by both impossibly slow and incredibly fast.

The mundane life around you is boring (as usual) but Sans keeps things interesting. 

You ask him questions and he asks you questions and you both are able to talk to each other like people. 

It bothers you to think that you’ve stopped realizing the other townsfolk as _people._

You feel yourself full of hope ~~and fear~~ as Sunday draws closer. It’s the first experiment that you and Sans are going to do together. 

You’re going to stay inside his timesafe lab over the period of time that loops each week to see what happens. 

You know Sans is going to lose his memory of you, but you convince yourself that it’ll be okay. 

It’s Sunday. 9:00 PM. It’s dark outside and snow is falling lightly. You feel like if time moved forward normally, the snow might stop. It’s been snowing for three years and you’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to _not_ be surrounded by snow all the time. 

You’re in Sans’s lab, sitting cross-legged on the old couch. Sans is fiddling with papers and his machines while he talks you through the experiment. 

“when morning comes, i want you to focus on a couple of things,” he tells you. He hands you an empty notebook. It’s pink with kittens and donuts on it. “write any thoughts or notes in this for me to look over later. i want you to focus on yourself when the time hits six o’clock. see if you feel out of whack in your head, or anything. i want to know if you can feel the time change.” 

You take the notebook with a small smile and nod your head. He continues. 

“set your alarm to be up before six, but try to get some sleep. your body’s not gonna reset to the beginning of the week, so you’re not gonna be well rested like usual.

“text me when you’re ready for me to come down, just remember to say ‘gaster approved.’ i’ll come down and we can start this whole thing over.” 

He turns back to his many papers and notes scattered over his desk. He begins to tidy them up. “i’ll need time to go over my notes; to catch myself up on what’s happening. i’ve put everything i need to know in these, so it should all be fine.” 

He keeps shuffling his notes around, you think he’s trying to keep himself busy. Is he nervous? If anything, you should be the one who’s nervous. You don’t know why he would be. 

“Thanks, Sans,” you say. 

“don’t thank me yet,” he says without turning to face you. 

“No, I _will_ thank you right now,” you demand. “That way I can thank you again when you don’t remember. Actually,” you wave a hand in his direction. “You might as well make a note that I’ve thanked you, so you remember for later. In case I forget to thank you again.” 

He looks at you with an amused expression but doesn’t reply. You still think he’s nervous. Maybe it’s the feeling of impending doom that comes with knowing you’re about to lose your memory. 

Not that you’ve ever felt that. 

“Do you want to stay with me for a while?” you ask him. 

He turns to fully face you. “and... what?” he asks. 

You shrug. “I dunno, we could watch a movie or something until… until it’s time.” 

He just stares at you. “you mean you haven’t seen every movie on the planet yet?” 

“Well,” you glance down. “Yeah, actually, I probably have. But that’s okay. We can watch something we’ve both seen.” You grin at him. 

You can see him deliberating in his mind about your offer. “okay,” he finally agrees. He wheels the old TV stand in front of the couch. You laugh at how old the TV actually is. 

“Dude, you need to get a new TV,” you tell him. 

He just shrugs. “what’s the point? it’s not like i’m down here watching tv every day.” 

You laugh. “You would be if you had a better TV.” 

Your banter carries on while you decide on a movie to watch. The two of you eventually come to the conclusion that _The Lion King_ is the best movie of the ones that you both have seen (and have available) and you put it on. 

You spend the next few hours chilling with Sans on the couch and because time is about to reset… 

You don’t hesitate to get close to him. 

You lean on each other’s shoulders for the entire movie, and toward the end your head finds its way onto Sans’s shoulder. 

When he leaves the lab and goes back to his room, you set your alarm for 5:45. You’re a little wound up to be going to sleep anytime soon, so you interest yourself by reading some of Sans’s notes.


	8. secret chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The loop resets

_reader is gaster approved._

_reader is safe, unaggressive, and sincere. their human psyche requires more examination._

_time loop has been ongoing for three (3) years and fourteen (14) days._

_it has been ~~one~~ ~~two~~ three loops since i’ve known about the resets. mondays at six o’clock (6:00) am._

_reader is aware of time loops and retains every memory._

_conducted a full physical evaluation on the monday of the third loop following my knowledge. reader appeared to be in full health, no injuries or otherwise signs of ill health._

_keep an eye out for their physical health as the weeks carry on. they may have been healthy before time started looping, but it is so far unknown if they take physical care of themself._

_reader appears to sustain a lasting Continuous Traumatic Stress Disorder (CTSD) as time repeats itself._

_they have let on that multiple traumatic events have taken place in the cycle, but have given no details._

_when i met them, they exhibited full knowledge of the goings on in town, and showcased it by pushing me out of the way of a heap of snow that fell from a tree above._

_their knowledge of events could come in useful._

\--- 

_try to put more effort into making jokes, you lazy piece of shit._

_they seem to cheer reader up._

\--- 

_i’ve allowed reader to have a box for safekeeping any items they wish to keep out of the time loop._

_they seemed pleased._

_i want to do more to help make them happy._

\--- 

_why does reader remember everything that happens?_

_it might have something to do with their brain chemistry. the other option is too horrific to imagine._

_another physical is in order._

\--- 

_get a new tv._

\--- 

_[strange symbols are drawn out on this piece of paper. You don’t know what they mean.]_

\--- 

_reader says thank you. they mean it. i feel like i haven’t really done anything to deserve their thanks._

\--- 

~~_oh no, they’re fucking cute._~~ _[it's been scratched out so you can't read it]_

\--- 

You wake up. 5:45 AM, Monday. Fifteen minutes before the loop restarts. 

You rub the sleep out of your eyes and allow yourself a few seconds to lay there undisturbed. You finally yawn and stretch, sitting up on the old couch that you had been sleeping on. 

You look around. You’re in Sans’s lab. 

It feels strange to wake up someplace different. 

You pick up the notebook that Sans had given you and open it up. 

You take your pen and write some notes. 

_5:46 am. Waiting for time to restart. Nothing to do until then._

You start doodling little cats and shapes on the page. You smile at them. 

You waste time doodling until six o’clock. You hold your breath and wait for something to happen. 

Nothing happens, you feel fi 

i 

ine 

Your body is building, bubbling, 

You’re 

Floating. 

When did your arms get so loooo 

ooooo 

oooooo 

ooooooo 

ooooooong? 

Static everywhere 

In your 

Your 

Hands 

In your 

Mind. 

Are you high? 

You feel high. 

Where are you? You’re not 

AnyWhERe 

gOOD. 

You have a moment of clarity right before you hit the ground. 

Which is weird because you don’t even remember standing up. 

“uh... reader?” 

That’s Sans’s voice. You look up from your place on the ground. You can see Sans standing above you. 

How did Sans get here? 

“What happened…?” you ask. 

“looks like you fell over, buddy,” he says. “don’t know what else to tell ya.” 

You carefully shake your head and begin to sit up. You look around and you’re… not in the lab. 

What is happening? 

You’re on the floor in your own house, and you stare up at Sans with wide eyes. 

“How did we get here?” you ask him urgently. 

He gives you a weird look. “we walked.” 

You stare up at him, a terrifying confusion wracking your mind and body. “I don’t remember,” you tell him. 

He looks at his watch. “hm. uh oh,” he says. He looks back at you. “looks like we found our missing time.” 

“What?” You try to stop yourself from shaking. You don’t think you could stand up if you tried. What’s happening? 

“do you remember being in the lab?” he asks. 

You nod your head carefully. “Yeah… I was up before six. I don’t know what happened after that.” 

Sans reaches down and takes your arm. He’s trying to help you up but you don’t want to go. 

You feel tired and sick. 

You do stand up, though, aided by Sans. He holds your arm until you’re steady on your feet. 

“let’s get you into bed,” he says. “you need rest. i’ll tell you what happened when you wake up.” 

You lead the way into your room (he doesn’t know where it is) but he’s right there beside you, hands ready to keep you from falling again. 

You’re shaky on your feet, but you make it to your bed and immediately flop down and bury your face into your pillow. You take a deep, settling breath. 

“try to go to sleep,” you hear Sans’s voice speak to you. 

You don’t need to be told twice. You fall asleep instantly. 

\--- 

You wake up. 11:59 am. Monday. 

You sit up and remember the earlier events. 

Well, not all of them. 

You reach for your phone to text Sans, but you see you’ve already got a text from him on your phone. 

_”i’m in my lab, just let me know when you wake up. come over here as soon as you can and text me if you need help.”_

You scroll up and see earlier texts that you don’t remember sending. 

_”Sans I don’t know to not freak you out with this but I’m Gaster approved and I’m in your lab”_

_”Please hurry I’m freaking out”_

It says you sent those texts at 6:03 am. 

There’s something you’re missing here. 

You text Sans that you’re coming over, and get up out of bed.


	9. a sans time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sans

A skeletal hand is placed on an inconspicuous wall. A blue light shines around the bony phalanges and grants the monster entry.

Inside the lab, papers are strewn about, notes upon notes of the current case regarding the time loop.

Sans leaves those notes where they are, and instead aims for a bookshelf in the corner. He pulls a specific book which acts like a lever, opening up a compartment within the shelf. He pulls out a box, locked with a screen and keypad.

He punches in a code, allowing time for a message to appear on the screen.

_"Have you heard the joke about the C.I.A.? Sorry, but you’re not cleared for the punchline."_

He pushes a different combination of keys. The message changes.

_"I can neither confirm nor deny that this code is correct.”_

One more password, and the box opens.

TOP SECRET says the words on the panel that needs to be twisted to be removed.

Several layers of protection to keep the contents of this box secure.

Inside the box are many aged papers, but the ones he’s interested in are the new ones on top.

He reaches inside and unfolds the notes he’s saved for himself.

 _there’s something about reader that i can’t explain._

_they make me feel… sad. they’ve gone through so much, alone, and for some reason all i want to do is make it better._

_god damn they’re cute_

_i can’t get distracted, please, for the love of science, ignore any infatuations you have for them_

_every time they smile at me, as if i’ve done something amazing, my soul swells._

_i know this can’t be good._

_why do i feel this way?!_

_all i want to do is make them happy._

_sans, i know you’re reading this right now, because you’re me. do not let reader know that you like them. you cannot let this get in the way of your research._

_you have to help them. this is all about them. help them first, then you can go die in a hole._

_they’re amazing._

_whatever you do, don’t look them directly in the eyes. their eyes are beautiful._

_my soul hurts when i look at them._

_am i making it worse by writing my feelings down?_

_would i be this obsessed if i didn’t know how much i loved them every week that resets?_

_all i’m doing is hurting myself by writing these notes._

_they have no idea_

_god damn it all_

_i know that every week is going to reset why do i keep reminding myself how i feel?_

Sans puts the notes back in the box, placing it back within the confines inside the shelf. 

He stands up.

He turns to leave.

He’s memorizing everything that the notes told him.

(their favourite colour is red, they love cats, their favourite snack is donuts and apple juice, they like their coffee with almond milk, they- they- they- Reader- Reader- _Reader-)_

His mind is racing a mile a minute. What is wrong with him?

He reaches down for his phone as it buzzes in his pocket. It’s a message from Reader.

He knows he shouldn’t, but his soul sings and although he tries to squash it, he still heads for the front door to let Reader in.


	10. continuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you're learning new things

You knock on Sans’s door and he opens it for you. 

“how ya feelin’?” he asks. 

You shake your head. “I feel fine now.” 

He moves aside to let you in. “come on, we have some notes to take.” 

You follow him once more into the lab. “What happened?” You ask. 

“well i got your text this morning and i came down to check on you. obviously, i didn’t remember who you were or anything. you seemed normal enough, i mean, maybe you were having a subtle anxiety attack, but as far as i could tell you were fine.” 

“Why don’t I remember any of that?” 

He walks you over to his desk covered in notes. “apparently in a normal loop, you would wake up on monday at nine am.” 

You nod slowly. “Yeah…?” 

“i think your human brain couldn’t handle forming new memories in the three hours you normally would be unconscious for.” 

He pulls a flashlight out and takes you by the face. He shines it in your eyes while holding your lids open with his bony fingers. He lets out a small “hmm,” and writes something down on his paper. 

You blink the unwanted light from your eyes. “So I just can’t form memories for those three hours?” You ask. 

“i don’t know. you didn’t this time. if we keep trying, maybe you’ll be able to adjust to the change and stop losing that time.” 

You think about that for a moment. “So when nine o’clock hit, that’s when I fell down and… started remembering again?” 

“started forming new memories,” he corrects you. “but yes. once your body caught up with the loop, you reverted back to what you were doing, which was, uh, laying down.” 

He’s holding back a chuckle. You grimace at him. 

He continues, “your body and mind would have normally just been coming to, but since you had been up for hours already, time was telling your mind one thing, while your body was telling you different.” 

“So the loop said ‘hey time to wake up all brand new again’ and my body was all like ‘bitch I’m old and tired let me sleep,’” you simplify the issue for yourself. 

Sans stares at you for a moment before allowing a soft chuckle to escape his smiling teeth. “yeah, exactly.” 

It’s quiet for a moment as Sans looks over his notes. “how’s it feel to be a whole week older?” He asks you. 

“Huh,” you huff to yourself. “I didn’t even think about it. I haven’t grown older in three years. Does that mean that if I stay in the lab each week, I’m going to get old while everyone else stays young?!” 

Sans grins at you. “pretty much, yeah.” 

“Fuck,” you sigh. 

Sans is looking at you strangely. You raise your eyebrow at him. He clears his throat and looks back down. 

“i’ve been reviewing my notes from the past loops. it’s officially been four weeks since you told me.” 

“Congrats,” You say as you sink into the couch. You need a breather to let this information settle in. 

He watches you subtly from his desk. “we need to make sure you keep your health up if you’re going to be staying in the lab each week. you’re not going to reset to being fully healed again like usual.” 

You sigh again. “Great.” 

This whole testing thing isn’t going to be easy. You’re not looking forward to sleeping on this old couch every week.

You close your eyes and lean back on the couch. You feel it dip down beside you and you open your eyes to see Sans sitting next to you. 

“...we’re gonna need to do another physical,” he says. “something a little more in-depth. a little more invasive.” 

You stare at him. “Why?” You ask, nervous. “And what do you mean invasive?” 

A bead of sweat appears on his head as he glances around the room awkwardly. “like brain scans and, and internal exams-“ 

You sit up suddenly. “Oh gods, seriously?” You shudder. _”you’re_ gonna do that??” 

Sans holds up his hands. “i have access to a high-class lab and practitioner’s office with all the equipment we’d need!” 

You settle back down into the couch. He looks at you warily. 

“i don’t have to be the one conducting the tests, if you don’t want me to. i just need the information afterwards.” 

You huff a sigh. “Geez, alright, I guess. If I have to. When?” You ask. 

Sans shrugs. “as soon as we can, i guess. i can get you in tomorrow if you’d like.” 

“Fine by me,” You mutter. “I don’t see why I have to go through all that though. Why does my health matter in all this?” 

“because i want to make sure the time loops aren’t messing with you too badly, and also i just want you to be safe and healthy, so…” 

You glance at him with an unamused expression. “Whatever, I already said I’d do it.” 

“...and also your brain chemistry might be why you’re sensitive to the time divergence.” 

You raise your eyebrows at that. “Oh shit, really?” You ask. “Are you saying my brain is special?” 

“might be,” He amends with a smirk. 

“Sweet.” You lay your head back and close your eyes again. 

Sans is quiet for a little bit before poking you in the shoulder. “you can’t be tired again, you slept for like three hours earlier.” 

“I’m not sleeping,” you tell him, eyes still closed. 

You can sense the smile on his face. 

“you’d better be careful, i heard there was a kidnapping at the school earlier this week.” 

You furrow your eyebrows. “What?” 

“it’s okay though, he woke up.” 

You blink your eyes open and look at Sans. He’s got a cheesy grin on his face. 

“you know, sleeping comes so natural to me, i could do it with my eyes closed.” 

You stare at him, mouth slightly agape. 

“i heard the sleep clinic is paying people to join in a sleep study. that’s kind of my dream job.” He winks at you. 

You groan and roll your eyes. “Okay, you can stop,” you say. 

“you know, they actually offered me a job there. i asked them if i could sleep on it before making a decision.” 

You start to get up. “That’s it, I’m leaving,” you shake your hands to rid yourself of the situation. 

“hey now, stop _resisting a rest!_ you get back here and go to sleep!” 

You feel yourself start to smile at that one. “Nope, I’m done, I’m leaving, peace.” 

You leave the lab, but he follows you out, making puns the whole time. He follows you out the front door, all the way down the street to your house. Every sentence out of his mouth is some kind of pun. 

You hold back your laughter for a while, but you eventually end up laughing while telling him to fuck off. 

The snow is heavy and you reach down to scoop up a handful. You pack it tightly and toss it in his direction. “Take that!” You shout. 

He dodges insanely fast and you even have to do a double take. 

He grins at you. “oh _snow_ that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” 

He starts picking up snow in his hands and you immediately begin packing more snowballs. 

You throw snow at each other for a good fifteen minutes or so until you’re both laying on your backs in the powder laughing. 

“hey,” sans says. 

“Yeah?” 

“want to go to the fair?” 

You stop laughing and sit up. “Uh, no, I should probably go inside,” you start to get up, brushing the snow off your pants. 

Sans gets up as well. “why?” He asks. “it’s not like you have anything to do.” 

You give him a stare. “I just don’t like the fair is all,” you say. 

“why?” 

“Because I’ve been going to it for three years straight that’s why.” 

“but you haven’t gone with me.” 

“I just don’t like the fair, okay?!” 

Sans stares at you silently and doesn’t reply. 

You’re not looking at him. You have bad memories at that fair. 

“okay.” 

You still don’t look at him. “I’m going inside now,” you tell him. “Bye Sans. See you tomorrow.” 

You begin trucking your way through the snow up to your door. Sans watches you the whole way. 

You close the door behind you. 

You lean against it, heaving a deep breath. You know you shouldn’t have reacted that way. 

But you _really_ don’t want to go back to that fair.


	11. crying impedes most things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sansy

Sans scheduled you a physical on Tuesday. 

In a real life doctor’s office. 

He’s going to keep the results in his lab. 

After your little outburst yesterday, you left him in the snow outside. He left you alone for the rest of the day as you bargained with yourself. 

You couldn’t hurt yourself before the physical or else they’d find out. 

You’ll hurt yourself afterwards. 

You received a text from Sans telling you when the appointment was. You’ll both go together. 

You stayed inside for the rest of Monday suffering through your urges. 

Tuesday came and you went with Sans to the doctor’s. 

The doctor was human, and very blunt. She told you what to do and she did what she needed. 

Everyone in the building seemed to know who Sans was. 

They all asked him about his research and studies. You were baffled by all this. 

For three years you’d been stuck in this time loop and you never found out Sans’s true life? His life of science?? 

Why does he hide it? 

Sans was outside of the room while the doctor conducted the entire physical, something you were glad for. This physical was _so much more invasive than Sans’s._

You hated doctors to begin with, and this just sealed the deal with yourself. 

You’re hurting yourself as soon as you get home. 

You hate this. 

Soon enough, though, it was over and you were free to go back with Sans. 

You found him sitting in the waiting room, and he stood up as soon as he saw you. 

“how was it?” he asked. 

You shrugged nonchalantly. “It was fine.” 

His eyes glanced around nervously. “let’s go then,” he said. “they’ll send me the results in a few days.” 

You take a deep breath and nod your head. You follow him out to your car. You had driven you both to this big fancy office outside of the town you both lived in. 

You sighed at the prospect of the drive home. 

All you wanted to do was go to sleep. 

The car ride home starts out quiet. Neither of you speak. 

Eventually it's Sans that breaks the silence. “hey, uh, reader?” 

“Yeah?” 

“i’m sorry if i made you uncomfortable or anything yesterday by bringing up the fair.” 

You clear your throat. “Oh, nah, it’s fine. I over reacted.” 

He side-eyes you. “but still. i won’t offer the fair again.” 

"Thanks.” 

Silence again. You’re focused on the road. 

“what happened there?” he asks. 

You heave a big sigh and hesitate. “I died.” you answer bluntly. 

He’s staring at you. You don’t look. _Keep your eyes on the road._

You pretend that’s not an excuse to just not see his expression. 

“how?” he asks. 

He just won’t stop, will he? 

“Ferris wheel,” you reply. 

“it’s not the same time as when you killed asriel, is it--” 

You lose control of the wheel for a split second. “No!!!” you yell at him. 

He looks surprised. He’s staring at you. 

You regain control of the car but you’re gripping the wheel intensely. 

“reader, pull over.” 

You ignore him to focus on breathing. 

"reader.” 

You don’t want to even _look_ at him. 

“reader, pull the car over.” 

He places his bony hand over the wheel. “reader.” 

You finally nod your head. When had tears started forming in your eyes? 

You gently pull the car over to the side of the road, putting it in park and turning the key. 

You lay your head on the wheel and you don’t notice, but your shoulders are shaking. 

Sans is staring at you. 

He’s _always_ staring at you.

You want him to stop fucking focusing on your for just _one minute--_

You feel him hesitantly lay a hand on your back. “sorry,” he says. 

Sorry? 

_Fucking sorry?_

He won’t fucking leave you alone. He treats you like just another one of his experiments. 

You’re done being tested on and questioned and treated like a science project. 

You’re done with this fucking skeleton. 

You sit back up, wiping your face. You shrug his hand off of you. 

He’s still. Just. Staring at you. 

You start the car. 

“are you okay?” 

You ignore him and get back onto the main road. 

“...reader?” 

You just want to get home. You don’t even want to see Sans for the rest of the week. 

“reader please talk to me.” 

If he’s going to treat you like an experiment with no feelings, then you’re going to act like one. 

Eventually Sans gives up trying to talk to you. 

The rest of the ride home is silent. You drop him off at his house and as he gets out of your car, he pauses as if he’s going to say something. 

You’re still not looking at him. 

You stop by the store on your way home. You buy booze. 

A lot of it. 

You go home and lock your door. 

You drink and drink and drink and you hurt yourself until you imagine that’s what your body would look like if you had kept all of the scars from the past resets. 

You _hurt._

You hurt and you _hate everything about your life._


	12. in between time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things have to get worse before they get better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry

_reader had their physical today. i won’t get the results for another few days. i made sure they know I need them before monday._

_they’re ignoring me._

_i brought up the fair again. they didn’t give me details but… reader has died in past timelines._

_they remember everything. their trauma goes much deeper than i thought._

_they won’t come out of their house. they’re not answering any of my texts._

_i don’t want to believe that they’re mad at me, but i know i triggered a panicked response from them by asking them about their death._

_i don’t know how to fix this._

_it’s been days and they won’t answer me. i’m about ready to bust into their house._

_i have the results of their physical._

_before the loop, they must have been in good health, because there’s nothing physically wrong with them._

_i haven’t seen them leave their house since tuesday. i don’t know if they’re eating._

_they might have gotten into the habit of not taking care of themself, knowing that time would reset. i must break that habit._

_i want them to spend the night in the lab again._

_reader’s brain scan shows reductions in brain tissue known as grey matter, a clear sign of mental health issues._

_i already knew that._

_what i didn’t know was that reader’s brainwaves match perfectly to the waves of time that keep looping._

_it could be coincidence._

_it’s probably not._

_the time loop might be specific to reader. i don’t know of anyone who has magic strong enough to do this._

_unless._

_fuck, there’s so many options i don’t want to think about._

_it could be gaster, it could be a save, hell, i would have thought it was frisk if i hadn’t asked first thing when i found out about the loop._

_more research is all that i can do right now._

_it’s sunday. time’s going to reset soon._

_i still haven’t seen reader._

_i’m texting them one more time. i need them to come back to the lab. i need them to not get reset again._

_i’m going to teleport into their house if they don’t let me in._

\---

Sunday. 6:00 pm. You’ve been ignoring your phone for the week. 

You’re sitting on the floor of your kitchen, huddled in a blanket. There’s a bottle in your hand and you’re drunk. 

Your wounds are ugly and red, but they’re no longer bleeding openly. 

Sunday. 11:00 pm. Sans keeps trying to reach you. 

You don’t want to go back to the lab. 

You don’t want to do anything. 

It’s useless, isn’t it? There’s nothing that can help you. You’re stuck here for eternity and nothing can get you out. 

You hear a knock on your door. 

You ignore it. 

Monday. 2:00 am. The knocking has come back. 

He’s calling out to you from outside. 

He wants you to let him in. 

You throw up into the sink. You drink more. 

Monday. 4:30 am. You’re dozing off. 

Falling asleep on your kitchen floor. 

Suddenly you hear a _bang!_ but you’re too out of it to react. 

You look up as Sans enters your kitchen. 

“reader!” 

He hurries over to you. He kneels down, hands fluttering around you. 

“Get out,” you slur at him. 

“reader, i need to get you back to the lab, come on. the time loop will reset in a few hours.” 

You swat at him. “I’m not going anywhere,” you yell him. “Leave me alone.” 

“reader, please, you’re-“ he grabs you by the arm and you yell in pain. 

He flinches back and stares at you with bright eyes. You’re glaring at him, but he moves the blanket from you. 

You never bothered to clean yourself. He can see everything. 

"reader, you’re not healthy.” His eyes are scanning you. “oh my gods, no. no no no no…” 

He looks panicked. You feel sick. 

“Sans, leave me alone, let me reset.” Your words are slurring and wobbly. 

“this is my fault,” he says. “i let you lock yourself up in here, oh my god, i’m sorry-“ 

You swat at him again. “Stop,” you say. “Fucking let me just die.” 

“reader, please come back to the lab with me. i can fix you up. i’ll feed you, i’ll help you, i can make you healthy again.” 

“No!” 

“we need to get you therapy, i can help you, reader, if you just let me!” 

You stumble your way to your feet. Sans is there to steady you. You can barely see through the booze and pain. 

“let’s get you to the lab,” he says. 

But you don’t. 

Want. 

To. 

5:15 am. 

You stumble your way to the front door and swing it open. You practically fall outside. 

“reader!” Sans is right beside you, trying to help you, but you smack his hands out of the way. 

“Don’t touch me,” you say. You struggle to push yourself back to your feet. 

You barely register the cold, even though you’re outside in the snow with nothing but pajamas and a loose blanket. 

You don’t know where you’re going, but you stumble along through the snow anyway. 

Sans is following you. “reader, stop,” he’s calling out to you. 

You fall back into the snow. 

He’s right beside you, pulling you up. “we’ve got to go,” he says. 

You shake your head. “No, I hate this.” 

“i can help you. you don’t have to hate this.” 

You shake your head again. “No!” 

5:40 am. 

“reader, please…” he places a hand on your face. You look up at him. “i love you.” 

You try to crawl away from him. He grabs you gently, it’s not hard to stop you. 

“please,” he whispers. 

5:50 am. 

“it’s too late,” he’s trying to carry you through the snow. It’s slow going, and you’re not helping at all. 

He places you down in the snow and takes your face in his hands. You sob. 

“I’m sorry,” you say. You’re a worthless human being. 

“i love you,” He says. 

5:55 am. 

He leans in and presses a skeleton kiss to your lips. 

You stare up at him in surprise. 

“i’m not going to remember this.” 

“Please remember me.” 

He nuzzles into the side of your head. 

5:59 am. 

“i’m sorry.” 

“I’m sorry!” 

You wake up. 9:00 am. Monday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hurt myself with this chapter ;-;


	13. god we just keep starting over don't we

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break in updates, I had barely any time over the holiday. Thank you for the wonderful comments and I hope you like this chapter!

You wake up. 9:00 am. Monday. 

You sit up slowly. Tears stream down your face. You sit there for a very, very, long time. 

You pull your phone to you and type in Sans’s number. 

_”I’m Reader and I’m Gaster approved. Go into your lab and read everything you have about me. We need to talk.”_

You sent it without a second thought. 

He had kissed you last night. 

He had said he loved you. 

You shake your head slowly; it didn’t make sense. 

No one can fall in love in just a week. 

But. 

You suppose he has known about you for a while now. 

Does he really have over a month’s worth of notes about you? 

You flop back down onto your back. You don’t want to get up. 

You’re still in the mindset you were last night. 

The reset might fix you physically, but you’re still depressed. 

You wish you didn’t remember anything. 

You lay in bed for hours, doing nothing and feeling bad about it. 

In the afternoon you eventually get up. You shower, brush your teeth, you even make yourself a small meal. 

Little victories. 

Sans still hasn’t texted you back. You don’t know what else to do other than wait for him. 

As the outdoors gets darker, you eventually curl up on your couch, huddle yourself in a blanket, and stare at a blank television screen. 

You turn it on after about an hour of sitting there. 

You watch reruns of some shows you couldn’t care less about. 

It’s 8:58 pm when your phone buzzes. 

It’s Sans. 

_”i’m coming over now.”_

You take a deep breath. 

There’s a knock on your door. 

You stand up and go to let him in. 

“hiya,” he says with a lazy grin. 

You stare at him and realize that you have no idea at all what you’re going to say to him. 

“uh, hello, anybody in there?” He waves a hand in front of your face. 

You shake your head. “Yeah, sorry, come in.” 

You lead him to the living room and sit back down on the couch. You tuck the blanket back in around you. Sans stands in the entrance to the room. 

He looks around nervously. “so, uh, what’s the problem?” 

“Who said there was a problem?” You ask. 

His eyes scan the room. “you texted me this morning and said we had to talk. i assume it’s because there’s some kind of issue you have with the resets?” 

You don’t answer right away and he speaks again. 

“weren’t you supposed to spend the night in the lab again? my notes didn’t say anything about a change in plans.” 

You sigh. “Yeah, I guess that’s kind of our problem right there then. Obviously I didn’t spend the night in the lab.” 

Sans looks at you, waiting for you to give some sort of explanation. You don’t give him one. 

“...so. what happened?” 

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” 

“well, don’t leave a skeleton hanging. my last notes were pretty… worrying.” 

You take a deep breath and take a moment to think. You don’t know where to start. 

“You didn’t have time to go write anymore notes because you were with me when the loop restarted.” 

“okay…” 

“You we’re trying to get me into the lab.” 

He stares at you. “why didn’t you want to go into the lab?” 

You give a small shrug. “I dunno. I was upset.” You don’t know how many details to leave out. 

Silence. He lets you think about your words. 

You stand up instead. You walk over to him. He’s looking at you nervously. He doesn’t know what to expect. 

Neither do you, honestly. 

You stare at him for a second, and then. 

You lean in and kiss him. 

Just a quick, soft kiss. You pull back and look at him. 

He’s staring at you in shock. You don’t say anything. 

“uh,” he mutters. 

“You kissed me last night. You said you loved me.” 

“uh,” he repeats. 

“Last night was bad. Really bad. And I don’t know how you can say you love me when you don’t even remember me each week, but,” you give a half-hearted laugh as you realize something. “I’m sorry, you just met me. You have no idea who I am.” 

You turn and walk back to the couch. 

“uh, actually,” Sans stutters. “i have countless notes about you. i know how i musta felt about you in past loops.” 

“But you don’t feel that way about me right now, cuz you just reset. You just read some notes about me. You only _just_ now met me in your memory.” 

He walks forward, but not quite coming close to you. “true, but-“ 

“No, it’s okay. It’s stupid of me to even throw this at you. There’s no way anything could form between us if the week keeps resetting.” 

Sans finally steps up to you. “hey,” he says. “if i woke up this morning and read a note that i wrote for myself saying that i had a relationship with someone that i have no memory of, i’d try my best to make them happy.” 

You look up at him. 

He’s still nervous, you can tell. “i might reuse some old jokes, sure, but i’d want to do right by them. by you, i mean,” he rubs the back of his skull awkwardly. “i mean like if you were the one who i was in a relationship with.” 

You stare at him. 

And you start to smile. 

No shit-eating grin here, but a small, a soft, a sincere smile. 

“Thanks,” you say. 

He doesn’t reply. 

You glance down. “I guess, uh…” 

He reaches up and takes your face in his skeletal hand. He leans in and presses another kiss onto your lips. 

You close your eyes and lean into it. 

When you both pull back he’s grinning. 

“What?” You ask. 

“man, my past loop selves would be so jealous right now.” 

You can’t help but laugh at him. 

Nothing has changed in the three years you’ve been resetting, but Sans is the one thing that you don’t mind staying the same.


	14. Mmmmmmmmm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a week, folks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sibling says I’m bad at fluff. I’m aromantic so that’s probably why.

Tuesday.

“where does a snowman put all his money?”

…

“a snowbank.”

“I’ve heard that one.”

“aw, come on, at least give me a courtesy laugh. not all of us are blessed with the memory of every joke i’ve told.”

“Cursed, more like.”

“hearing my jokes are a christmas blessing.”

“A Christmas curse.”

“well that was _rudolph_ you.”

“Oh my god, your puns are terrible.”

“ _rein_ in your insults, _deer_.”

“It’s not Christmas!”

“i christ _miss_ having someone to laugh at my jokes.”

You groan but you can’t help the smile on your face.

\---

Wednesday.

“This movie sucks.”

“sh, it’s just getting interesting.”

“I’ve seen it before, I know what happens!”

“shhh, just because you’ve seen every movie in existence doesn’t mean you get to spoil the fun for the rest of us.”

“Sh, this is the part where the guy dies.”

“no! i said don’t spoil it!”

You cackle as Sans tackles you onto the couch.

\---

Thursday.

“NYEH HEH HEH! I’m glad you both decided to build snowskeletons with me today!!”

“Of course, Papyrus!”

“yeah, it’s _snow_ problem, bro.”

“NYEH! No more puns!”

“but bro that was only the _frost_ one i made today.”

“Sans no!”

“alright, i apolog _ice.”_

“Thank you, brother, I accept your- WAIT THAT WAS ANOTHER PUN!”

“That’s not cool, Sans.”

 _“icy_ you’re  _snowly_ catching on.”

“Wait, no, that wasn’t on-“

“Reader, you too??? Really, can we not have one nice day to play in the snow without everyone bursting into puns?”

You throw snow at Sans’s grinning face and another snow fight breaks out.

You and Papyrus win (but only because Sans is too lazy to move out of the way of all of your snowballs.)

\---

Friday. 

Making out with a skeleton works surprisingly well. 

\--- 

Saturday. 

“are you okay staying in the lab tomorrow night again?” 

“Yeah, of course.” 

“i want to have you stay in the lab each week to see if your memory in those three hours improves. then maybe i’ll try staying in there one night to see if anything happens to me.” 

“Sounds good to me.” 

… 

“are you scared?” 

“No, why would I be? I’ve stayed the night in the lab before.” 

“but last time freaked you out and you lost your memory for three hours.” 

“Yeah, but I don’t remember freaking out so… I guess there’s nothing to be afraid of.” 

… 

“i wish there was a better way for me to remember everything about you. i don’t want to forget you.” 

“I know. It’s okay. I know you’ll leave good notes for yourself.” 

“i’ve been writing down almost everything that i can remember. i want to know what we’ve experienced together.” 

You smile at him. 

“I like to think that someday the loop will end and we won’t have to worry about reminding you about us.” 

“that’s staying positive.” 

He kisses you. 

“Do you think you’ll have any memories once the loop ends? Or will it reset everything?” 

“...that’s something i don’t know.” 

“Guess we’ll find out.” 

… 

“Do you think _I_ will have all my memories of the loops when it ends?” 

“i don’t know that, either.” 

“What if we both reset and neither of us remember this?” 

“hey, what happened to that positive outlook just a minute ago?” 

“Sorry.” 

“don’t worry. it’ll be okay. i’ve got some ideas up my sleeve.” 

“Like what?” 

“that’ll come later, reader. for now just know that i’m working on something.” 

“Something scientific?” 

“incredibly scientific.” 

\--- 

Sunday. The final day of the loop. 

You hope that staying in the lab won’t be that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this day-by-day chapter, I'm going to do a little bit of a timeskip in the next chapter. Just to get things moving a little faster, now that most of the beginning drama is out of the way. Hope y'all don't mind!


	15. who's this gaster fellow i keep hearing about

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> time keeps on slippin slippin slippin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Updates might be a little sporadic for a while, what with the holidays and other personal stuff going on. Hope everyone's okay!

Time keeps moving forward (and resetting, and moving forward, and resetting, and moving forward) but your memory isn’t showing any improvements during the lost time between when the loop starts and when you’d be awake. 

Your body feels like absolute shit. You’re actually growing weeks older and keeping the effects of the previous loops now that you’re staying in the lab. 

Your body is tired. You don’t remember the last time you didn’t wake up refreshed on Monday morning. 

The urge to hurt yourself comes back, but you try to stifle it down. You hurt yourself a little bit, but only under your clothes where no one will see. 

You and Sans build a relationship off of the resets each week. He’s started taking photos of you both to keep in the lab for him to see when he resets. Each week he adds a few new photos and a nice pile has begun to form. 

Even with no progress on your memory, Sans has been doing his best to keep your body healthy. He makes sure you eat and drink and he says you’ve forgotten how important your health is. 

You guess that’s kind of true. 

You know Sans had given you a box specifically for small items you wanted to carry over resets, but you’ve starting bringing bigger items into the lab with you. You’ve bought yourself new clothes that you’re keeping in the lab so you don’t have to wear the same boring stuff every week. 

Sans has had to grow used to you wearing shockingly loud jackets. 

You found a disgustingly coloured, fuzzy jacket with tassels on the sleeves and it’s the most ugly thing you’ve ever seen, but you bought it to wear, simply to see the reactions of the people in town. 

It’s fun having new things to try after so long of the same thing. 

You think Sans lets you keep doing it because he likes seeing you happy. 

Sans slept in the lab with you one week, and while inside the lab he retained his memory, once he set foot outside, time tried to catch up with him and made him really sick. He lost his memory that week, still. You didn’t understand it but Sans said it was very scientific. 

Sans has been doing non-stop research lately, writing and calling other scientists in the area. He hasn’t mentioned you to them, but they’re trying to figure out the looping. 

You overheard them say it might be Gaster. You don’t know what that means. 

When you ask Sans, he says not to worry about it yet, as nothing’s confirmed. 

He was mumbling something about not remembering while he was writing something down. 

Finally Sans sits you down to talk to you about what he’s found. 

“a while ago you asked about gaster.” 

“Uh, yeah.” 

“well, gaster’s a creature from another dimension. he lives in what we call _the void,_ a place of neither existence nor non-existence. we think… we think he’s trying to come into this world.” 

You blink at him. “What.” 

“that’s what i said.” 

“Gaster’s a person? Who lives in another dimension.” 

“yes.” 

“Okay, just checking, go on.” 

“we believe gaster’s trying to come into our world, but his existence here is being rejected. that’s what’s causing the resets.” 

“So like every time he sets foot here time just throws him back out?” 

“essentially.” 

“So why does he keep trying?” 

“we don’t know. we don’t exactly have a way of communicating with him.” 

You don’t understand half of this, but you trust Sans. He’s the scientist, not you. 

“i think you might be able to, though.” 

That throws you for a loop (no pun intended.) “Me?!” 

“the missing time. your mind might be able to access the void during that time. since you’re kind of existing yet not existing,” he shrugs. “i dunno, it’s worth a shot.” 

“Me. Access the void. Another dimension.” 

“...yeah,” 

“Oh fuck.” 

“it’s not that scary, i promise.” 

You give him a withering look. “What good is this supposed to do?” 

“if you can talk to gaster, you can figure out if or why he’s trying to come into our world. you can tell him to stop.” 

“He’s a good guy, right?” 

Sans hesitates. “he’s not evil,” he says. 

You stare at him for a moment. You think back to all the resets you’ve had to live through. You guess there’s nothing to lose, really. 

Except Sans, maybe. 

“Sure,” you agree before you’re really sure you want to. 

Sans grins. “great. this could be a huge step forward in our studies.” 

“But,” you think aloud. “This doesn’t explain why I can remember everything.” 

Sans shrugs. “maybe gaster has that answer as well. he knows most things.” 

You try not to think about the implications. Gaster is an all knowing and all powerful being in another dimension who might be the cause of your torture? Suuure. No need to worry. 

“So, what do I do to get into the void?” 

“well from reading my notes on what you told me about your experiences with the lost time, it seems like you might already be in the doorway of the void. next time we can just have you try to focus and concentrate on where you are at the time, instead of where you aren’t.” 

That doesn’t make sense to you. 

“I don’t understand.” 

“instead of worrying about how you relate to this world while your mind is wandering through the lost time, try to focus on where your mind is. you’re somewhere while you’re not here. that somewhere is potentially the void.” 

“Potentially.” 

“...yes, potentially.” 

“This is sounding less and less appealing.” 

“it’s for science.” 

You sigh. “For science,” you agree. 

Sans pulls you in for a hug. You wrap your arms around him and press your face into his neck (spine.) 

“i promise everything will be okay. it might take a few tries, but we’ll figure this out together.” 

You nod into him. “I’m willing to try anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'm dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace right now and management supposedly talked to the person yesterday, so now I get to see the ramifications. I'm a little terrified of the consequences. Wish me luck.)


	16. Fairgrounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s been a little while hasn’t it

Another usual Monday. It’s the town fair. You’ve been to it countless times, there’s nothing to interest you anymore.

And yet you decide to go anyway. 

Hey, who knows? Maybe you’ll find something new to keep you occupied. 

As you wonder the fair, you snack on some of the greasy food it has to offer. You don’t really pay attention to the kids running amuck, or to the vendors trying to get you to play their rigged games. 

(You already know the secret to them all, it doesn’t take long to learn the patterns.) 

As you pass one of the kiddie rides, you notice a monster in a dirty jumpsuit working beside his toolbox on the control box for the ride. 

The maintenance guy. Huh. You wonder what he’s doing. 

You decide to go talk to him. 

“Hey,” you say. He’s got greenish skin and five eyes. His teeth look sharp, but he barely comes up to your chin. 

“Uh, hello, there,” he says, glancing up at you. He doesn’t know why you’re talking to him. He’s just fixing the box. 

“What’re you doing?” You ask. 

“Just, checking up on the ol’ controls here. Basic maintenance.” He shrugs. “I have to make my rounds every few hours, just make sure things’re working correctly.” 

You nod. That makes sense. “What would happen if you didn’t?” 

“Probably nothin’. But just in case, ya know? We don’t want any of the rides breaking down on us.” 

You tilt your head and smile at him. “You ever get a break?” 

He still seems unsure of you. “Uh, yeah after I check up on all the rides I usually have some time before I have to make the rounds again.” 

“So when’s your next break?” 

“Um,” he looks at his watch. Half of his many eyes keep a wary eye on you. You find it kinda cute. “I have to go check on the kid’s swing ride and then the Ferris wheel.” 

“And then you’ll be done?” 

“Yeah.” 

You grin. You don’t know why you’ve never interacted with this guy before. He’s cute in the way you see most of the resetting townsfolk as. They’re all toys. Nothing you do will have consequences. 

You lean in a little, give the monster a flirtatious look. “And if I decide to hang around until you’re done?” 

He seems to pick up what you’re putting down. “I don’t see why it would be a problem,” he says. You wink at him and he blushes. “I’m done here, the kid’s swing is next.” 

You and the monster (who’s name you didn’t care to learn) walk across the fair together. You flirt, and he flirts back, and he’s not very good at it but you don’t care. 

None of this matters, anyway. 

You’re just playing around, it won’t matter if he gets his heart broken because he’ll be good as new on Monday. 

You tease him as he inspects the kiddie ride. He seems to get more and more flustered. 

“This one’s workin’ fine,” he says to the ride manager. He turns back to you. “Next is the Ferris wheel, then I’m done.” 

“Aww,” you groan. “Can’t you just... skip it? It’s just a check up, nothing’s gonna be wrong with it.” 

“No, I can’t–“ 

“But nothing was wrong with these other rides, you’ll do another check up soon.” You lean in close and put your fingers on his shoulder. 

He hesitates. You’ve got him. This is easy. 

“Come on,” you say. “Skip the Ferris wheel and we’ll have a little more time before you have to go back to work.” 

He agrees, and you both find your way to one of the employee back rooms. 

You have fun getting to know this monster you’ve never cared about before. 

You’re pulling your jacket on, readying to leave the back room when you hear someone outside. 

“Rumford!” A voice calls out. 

The monster you just had hurries to open the door. “Yes? What- uh, what’s the matter?” 

_(his name is Rumford?)_

“The Ferris wheel is acting up, the boss wants you up there!” 

Rumford hurries out and you decide to follow, because, well, nothing else interesting is gonna happen. 

“Did you find anything wrong with it when you did your routine maintenance?” 

Rumford looks nervous. “Uh, n-no, it was fine when I last looked!” 

Oooh, looks like you caused the ride to break down. Boo hoo, now some poor kids won’t get to ride the Ferris wheel. 

You roll your eyes. 

You all rush to the ride, and you notice that it’s not moving. There appears to be people still in the carts up top. They must have been in the middle of a ride. 

Rumford begins to open up the control panel and you watch with disinterest. 

“The engine was making a weird noise, and the wheel was beginning to move weirdly so I put it to a stop,” says the other worker. 

Rumford looks worried as he looks at the panel within. He mutters something under his breath. 

You quickly lose what little interest you had in this situation, and you start to turn away when the boss starts yelling. 

“You should have caught that last time you checked it! Didn’t you have a routine maintenance just a bit ago?!” 

“I- uh, yes, I did it, a-and I didn’t see anything wrong-“ 

“Well how so?! How could you not see this??” 

You turn back around when you hear a loud _clank._

The wheel creaks above you all. The people in the carts scream. 

Rumford looks pale. “Nonono, it shouldn’t have been running like this, I should have-“ 

A deafening screech of metal hits your ears and you look up to see the Ferris wheel tilting in a way you _know_ it shouldn’t be. 

“SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!!” 

You can hear screaming from all around you. 

Rumford is muttering and rummaging around beside you and you can’t tear your eyes away from the wheel. 

There are people up there. 

Rumford catches your eye. 

This is all your fault. 

He turns and you know he’s trying everything he can to stop whatever is happening. 

It’s too late. The wheel starts turning again, only this time, it tips and the swinging carts above lurch violently. 

The screeching of metal and the screaming of everyone at the fair are only background noise to the beating of your own heart in your ears. 

The wheel falls. 

You scream. You start to run. 

You see a shadow fall over you and you look up. 

You don’t feel anything but the cold of the metal as it crushes the life from your body and everything goes black. 

You wake up. Monday, 9:00 am.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for the work stuff going on... I got a call today saying that they’ve closed the investigation and that they’ve solved the issue but I don’t know for sure what that means. I hope it means they fired the guy >:]

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr @moolikacow


End file.
